The First Walnut Hills
John Remson
Bishop
It was over one hundred years ago that the Ohio
Legislature voted to build a new school for the City of
Cincinnati to meet the needs of the spreading population in the
city's newer hilltop neighborhoods of Walnut Hills, Avondale and
Clifton. In 1895, the new Walnut Hills High School, costing $120,500
and consisting of 16 classrooms, situated at the corner of
Burdett and Ashland Avenues in Walnut Hills, opened its doors to
684 pupils. Mr. John Remson Bishop was the first principal
presiding over a faculty of twenty teachers who were reported to
be delighted with the new, cheerful classrooms, the gymnasium,
science laboratories and library.
In 1918, the Union Board of High Schools, prompted by the opening of another new high school, Withrow, voted to reorganize the city's high schools converting Walnut Hills into a classical, college preparatory high school. The school would offer a limited course of study that would prepare students directly and exclusively for college admission. Walnut Hills reopened in September of 1918 with George E. Davis as the new principal chosen for his 17 years of experience in college preparatory school in the East. At the dedication ceremony, Superintendent Condon stated, "Our aim is to build up and maintain here in Cincinnati a public high school that shall be of a kind, and equally as good, as any of the private college preparatory schools or academies of the East."
Admission to the new program was based on teacher and principal recommendations and students were accepted from any school in the city until capacity was reached. Commended students were encouraged to enroll into the seventh and eighth grades, then called grades "E" and "F", hence, the explanation for the mysterious names of "effies" and "E-flats" that have forever plagued Walnut Hills students. Until 1926, selection of students remained subjective, based on elementary school principal recommendations and proximity to the school. After 1926, only students expressly interested in going to college and displaying exceptional abilities were admitted, based on intelligence tests combined with careful study of school records and recommendations.
1930 Girls Basketball Team
With the increased enrollment and popularity of the school, the Cincinnati Board of Education realized that additional facilities were needed to meet the growing demands. In 1924, based on a survey by Board President Withrow, Superintendent Condon proposed a new building for the popular and successful Walnut Hills High School. The site, fourteen acres located between Victory Boulevard and Evanston originally intended for a Catholic high school, was purchased from the Catholic archdiocese for $150,000. Architects, Woodward and Garber designed the building and ground was broken in January, 1930. The experience of the architects, also the architects for Withrow and Western Hills as well as other schools in the state, plus the foresight and planning combined to make Walnut Hills one of the most outstanding high school plants in the country. Modeled upon the classical style reminiscent of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and the University of Virginia, apropos of the school's most impressive site. Today, the domed library overlooks the Interstate and is easily visible from many vantage points in the city serving as a constant reminder that over the past one hundred years this institution has made and continues to make, significant scholarly contributions to this great city, and the country.
The "new" Walnut Hills
Many alumni today remember parading from the "old" Walnut Hills on Burdett to the "new" Walnut Hills for the Cornerstone ceremony in June of 1930. On September 8, 1931, the new Walnut Hills opened its doors at a cost of $1,517,856 and a capacity for 1700 pupils. The long and proud traditions of scholarship, college preparation and citizenship would be carried on, evidenced by the curriculum, the extracurricular program, the staff and the students who would continue to excel in every area.
The physical plant at walnut Hills has continued to grow in keeping with the increasing enrollment of the school. In 1960, an annex with 17 additional classrooms was completed and a fine arts wing was added in 1976 providing specialized classrooms for Music, Art, Speech and Drama. A new stadium named after Robert S. Marx, a 1906 graduate of the school, was built in 1979. Samuel Huttenbauer, trustee of the Marx Fund, was a fellow classmate and football team member and was responsible for the gift to the school in honor of Judge Marx. With a current population of 2200 pupils, the school is in need of additional classrooms, gymnasiums and administrative offices as well as more field space for the growing sports programs.
Throughout the years comprehensive studies and surveys have been conducted to determine whether Walnut Hills should remain as a classical college-preparatory high school, to keep or drop the junior high school, or become a district high school. And always, students, parents, teachers, alumni and other community leaders have come forth to enthusiastically defend it and have prevented any change in the mission of the school. Their impassioned interest and support to keep Walnut Hills as a classical high school are typical of the fierce pride, sentiment and a sharing of ideals, associated with those who have experienced the Walnut Hills tradition.
Today Walnut Hills continues, as it was chartered to be, a classical, six-year, college-preparatory high school with admission by academic qualification only. The school brings together capable students and committed faculty, dedicated to intellectual achievement, the principles of mutual respect and learning, and the development of good citizenship. Students are learning to use technology to access, organize and process the enormous amount of new information that is available. Thomas Jefferson would be pleased that the library fashioned for his style and principles, is truly a center for academic pursuits and boasts one of the most technologically advanced computer library systems in the area. The library has a fully automated circulation and catalog system with terminals networked to CD-ROM products which will this year be networked to the new teacher staff development center providing access to all library materials for teachers at their computer terminals. Plans are to eventually network all classrooms to the library system which is already networked to the University of Cincinnati library and to a nationwide cable service, INTERNET. Students graduating from Walnut Hills in the 90's will be classically educated and technologically prepared to face the challenges of the twenty-first century.
As we approach our centennial, the nationally recognized Walnut Hills High School will continue to prepare our young men and women to be our future leaders not only for Cincinnati, our state and our nation, but for the world at large. The school's motto, "Sursum ad Summum", "Rise to the Highest", continues to challenge the bright and best young minds and perpetuates and celebrates Walnut Hills' one hundred years of a tradition of excellence.